The Media's Wrong, Bahrain Is Not A War Zone

Despite what critics say, the kingdom is making bold reforms to
its security forces.

So, the Grand Prix in Bahrain is over. The teams have packed up
and the circus has moved on. They have a left a small nation
feeling bewildered. Bewildered at the level of ignorance about
what is really happening here, at the level of animosity and
bile, at the media bias.

And bewildered that so many in the UK, a long-standing friend and
ally for two centuries, could so readily swallow everything
opposition groups and activists were saying.

The abiding image I have of the Grand Prix last weekend was
of thousands of people enjoying themselves at the post‑event
parties. Yet the media reports in Britain told a different story.
Headlines suggested that the country was in flames and that there
was a serious safety risk to the Formula One teams.

I do not mean to trivialize the situation in Bahrain. There
remain difficulties, all of which require political solutions.
But this is not Syria, to paraphrase David Cameron, not by a long way. There are
regular peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain, and more peaceful
demonstrations take place than violent ones. But these are seldom
reported.

I am not saying the media weren’t doing their job by reporting
clashes in Manama, Bahrain’s capital. However, as the experienced
motor-racing correspondent Joe Saward said on his blog on Sunday,
supposedly respectable international news agencies reported
details that simply were not true. He wrote: “No one is denying
there is trouble, but this is not a war zone and it is shameful
that this is the message being sent out to the world.” In the
end, the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix itself passed off without
incident, as I expected it would.

Some commentators have suggested that this great sporting event
was in some way a PR stunt to legitimize the government and to
send a message to the world that everything is fine.

But as the Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said,
ironically more attention was focused on the demonstrators over
the past week than at any time since last year. If the Grand Prix
had been cancelled, 200 journalists would not have been in the
country to report on the demonstrators’ grievances.

The situation in Bahrain is far more complicated than often
portrayed in the media. After last year’s unrest, His Majesty
King Hamad al-Khalifa invited a group of independent lawyers and
other experts, led by Cherif Bassiouni, to Bahrain to thoroughly
investigate what had taken place. Their efforts led to the
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report.
Following its publication, last November, the King acknowledged
that some terrible things had happened. Thirty-five people died
during the unrest last year, and some of those deaths were at the
hands of the security forces.

These matters have not been ignored. Far from it. An independent,
judge-led investigation unit has been set up to look into the
deaths and the allegations of torture and mistreatment in order
to hold those responsible to account.

Having taken the brave step, as it has been universally
acknowledged, of accepting the difficult findings of the BICI,
the King immediately set up a committee to push through its 26
recommendations. And last month – just over 100 days since the
report – it was acknowledged by a special commission that
substantial progress had been made.

One of those recommendations was to reform the practices of the
police force, which is why I was invited to Bahrain, along with
former US police chief John Timoney.

Over the past few months, we have been working with the Minister
of Interior to implement the relevant changes. A new and
independent police ombudsman has been appointed by royal decree.
We are hiring 500 extra community police officers from all
sections of Bahrain’s society to improve relations with the
public. We have published a new police code of conduct. A
comprehensive programme of training in human rights has begun.
The CID is being reformed, and expert trainers are being
commissioned to deliver the latest in modern investigative
techniques. There is an agreement to build a new forensic
laboratory to enable the police to rely on more scientific means
to solve crime. These are just the headlines.

Challenges remain. The decision not to give visas to certain
correspondents is one, as the Crown Prince said, that the
government may wish to reflect upon. The death over the weekend
of Salah Abbas al-Qattan, an anti-government protester, is also a
powerful reminder of the tragic consequences of the unrest.
However, the determination of the police chief to establish how
Salah died and the level of resources now being applied to the
investigation is testament to the new resolve to fix things.

As I said in my letter last week to the president of the FIA,
Formula One’s governing body, I am not an apologist for what
happened last year. Neither am I ashamed of my role in Bahrain in
any way. Like many Bahrainis and expats, however, I am bewildered
by the level of criticism aimed at a nation that has acknowledged
its mistakes, but has plans in place to put things right.

John Yates is the former UK Head of
Counter-Terrorism and is now the senior police adviser
to the government of Bahrain